Troy Redfern

Multi-instrumentalist Troy Redfern, no stranger to the British blues rock scene with his highly individualistic brand of rockin’ Resonator roll and searing slide expertise, and hot off an exceptional, full band headliner set at the Upton Blues Festival, has announced the release of his most musically adventurous album to date. Astral Doorways, scheduled for release on 30th October, isn’t Troy’s first instrumental album (a highlight of his deep and diverse back catalogue includes the guitar led and multi-faceted Thunder Moon) but it is his most ambitious and daring work.

You have your new album ‘Astral Doorways’ released on 30th October 2026. How did you want to approach the making of the album?

I wanted to take a completely different approach in all aspects with this record.

I wanted this to be a ‘direct from my imagination to the listener’ album, which means all playing, writing and production was to come from me. I didn’t want a middle man in the creative process, and certainly not committee writing sessions that are so popular these days J . This album blatantly isn’t about any desire for charts or playlist, it’s about good ol’ fashioned uninhibited creativity ( as we know, the two don’t mix ). Catchy chorus’ and sing along tunes weren’t on the menu for this album.

Where did you record the album and who produced it?

I recorded the album in my own Parliament Barn Studios, here on the Herefordshire borders.

I’ve built my home studio over the last six or seven years, it works really well to be self contained and have the gear at home. As I mentioned, I produced Astral Doorways. I wanted to actualize my own vision for this music so that required wearing the producers hat too.

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the recording sessions?

The whole process was memorable for me as it was a voyage of discovery musically. Before I started, I would never have thought I could produce an album like this. It’s something that I’ve really wanted to do for a long time. I’ve dabbled, with tracks like ‘Call to Prayer’ on ‘Island’ and the album ‘Thunder Moon’, but that was compiled from pieces written at different times. This was written as an album.

Did you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for the record?

I did get to use some instruments that I’ve not used on any of my records to date. On the track ‘The Fire Stones of Areelia’ I used a Turkish Saz and a Coral Sitar for the midsection.

I also used my 1990 Ibanez Universe 7 string for the solo on Astral Doorways. I absolutely love that guitar. I also used a beautiful emulation of an Ursa Major Space Station unit by Temecula DSP for the solo in the track Elysium in Parallax. It’s such a beautiful reverb, it blooms!

Which of your new album tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

Hmm, not sure about that… the music has more emotional subtleties just than happy or angry. It’s cosmic nature tends to put you into a more mediative zone, letting your imagination take you into uncharted territory. I would say the opening of ‘Astral Doorways’ is the happiest, the first 40 seconds, it very ‘major scale’ sounding. The angriest ( I don’t think there is any angry sounding sections but) would be the solo in ‘The Firestones of Areelia’

You have played every instrument on the record. What was your reasoning behind that?

I felt that with this album I wanted my musical DNA to permeate the music, as I said , ‘straight from my imagination to the listener’ with the least resistance. I nearly hired a band to perform the music, but when I heard some initial playthroughs, and heard the music was being ‘interpreted’, I realized my vision was too strong to have someone else diluting it, or giving it their interpretation. On my previous three albums I’ve been ‘very’ open and not precious at all, but on this, it was time to have complete creative control. The music is too idiosyncratic to do anything else.

Does the album’s title have a specific meaning/significance?

It really is an allegory for the portal into the creative mind or imagination. There is a thematic, gnostic undercurrent that is conceptually running throughout album that’s reflected in the artwork, especially the centrefold of the gatefold vinyl. Life, death, rebirth and balance.

Was it a difficult album to write?

Creatively no, but technically it certainly was a mountain to climb. I’ve not recorded and mixed anything as complex for a long time. It was quite a few months’ work, a lot of concertation, and a lot of coffee J I’ve always found writing music extremely natural, the well never runs dry, the hard thing is sculpting it for a record.

Who designed the album artwork?

I painted all of the artwork for this album. Again, I wanted this whole album to be true artistic expression, the music and the packaging. I’ve done the artwork for the last three records, but this time I wanted to push that further. I’ve done the comic book thing a few times, this I wanted to be expressive art, something with more depth.

One of the tracks is ‘Dark Celestial’. What was the story/inspiration behind the track?

Dark Celestial is one of two short interlude tracks on the album, the other being Emanations.

I wanted two palate cleansers to break up the larger pieces, something complex but also ethereal. Emanations is the light, Dark Celestial as the name suggests is the dark. That also represents one of the themes of balance I was talking about earlier. Yin and Yang

Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2026/2027?

I’ll be out next year, and hopefully be playing some music from this record if the star align.

Feature Image Photo Credit: Logan Redfern

Troy Redfern’s new album ‘Astral Doorways’ is released on 30th October 2026. 

Formats: Red Vinyl in Original Artwork Gatefold Sleeve*; Digipak CD*;
Digital Download; all via website shop (see pre-order link further below)

(*Vinyl & CD have individual mixes to provide best audio experience for each format).
Pre-order link now live at: https://troyredfern.com/shop/

Will also be available on streaming services.

Official Website: https://troyredfern.com/